Kaito's got a black eye, bruised knuckles and possibly a dislocated finger, and definitely cracked ribs.

He knows exactly how those feel.

His opponent came off worse.

But they're both sitting in different holding cells, likely because if they're put in the same room, Kaito would try his damnedest to feed him his own thick skull.

He winces as his aching head makes contact with the wall behind him. There's a ringing in his left ear, and his cheek has passed the point of feeling numb and now everything is pulsing in pain.

He prods a tooth and stops when it feels like it's loose.

He's gonna be extra pissed if he loses his charismatic smile and Kid quickly becomes a gentleman thief without any charm.

He might lose his fanclub, then, too.

So far, no one's come in to check on him after they'd shoved him in the cell and left. Not even to bring him a cellmate.

It's only been two hours. The wheels of bureaucracy turn as steady as grass grows. It happens, you can see the evidence in the passage of time, but it is literally the most boring thing in the world to be waiting for.

"Oh my god," Kaito mutters, thumping his head once against the wall to drive the thoughts from his head. "Urg."

Well, they'd let him out before the last trains left. There were a few hours left of the night and opening shift wasn't too far away, really, and then there'd be plenty of time to put this entire incident behind him.

"Maybe someone will get passed the Kichiemon trap, this time." Kaito stares at the blank ceiling overhead.

A lock clangs as it turns, the door back to the cells being opened if he hears correctly.

"Hey Kid! You back here?"

Salvation!

"Falco! Hey! Someone finally coming to let me out?" He stands and drapes himself on the bars of his cell, grinning at the pilot as he saunters into view.

"And to stock you some provisions. I don't think any one of us has ever seen you lose your temper quite like that before." He hands Kaito the shiniest red apple he's ever seen through the bars of the cell.

"He shouldn't open his big mouth," Kaito mutters, taking a bite of the apple and instantly feeling better. A few more of those and he'll be right as rain.

"Maybe," Falco agrees, also drawing out a ring of keys and spinning it lazily. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Yes!" Kaito cheers, dramatically swooning off to the side, "My hero!"

-X-

Hey! sees a multitude of people, and as long as Kaito has been here, he never gets tired of meeting them. There are hardcore fans, casual gamers, and all ages brand new to gaming, and just about everyone has made their way to his game cabinet at least once in their lives.

Phantom 1412, Kaito's game and alias, was a breakout hit of 1987, and Kaito has been locked in battle with his dastardly organization of thieves for just as long.

He's lived in this arcade for nearly as long, and only vaguely remembers a time before, existing as sharp bursts of half-formed programming and pixelated 8-bit glory. He remembers every moment after that, too, and the gradual rise to popularity, in a race to get a new game out on every platform that culminated in there being 6 different games that most people have loaded on their phones, from fun games that involve Augmented Reality and teaser puzzles to one where he teaches people how to cook.

He, like all sprites, can flit his way through every version of himself, becoming one with any body, as long as he can race through the electricity fast enough to get there.

The invention of Wi-Fi has made his life so much more interesting, but he always finds his way back to the first arcade to give him a home, and the young children and older adults who recognize him.

And when you're in one body for so long, you can start doing things that most new sprites never take time to learn.

Like manipulate game code, play with your own design, and sometimes, sometimes, speak to the human hands on your controls and let them know you're here.

Kaito, one of the oldest sprites in the arcade, listens to the murmured worries of the younger generation, but takes it with a grain of salt.

Just because the humans don't communicate with them, it doesn't mean that they can't.

Kaito's stood at the command of gamers who push a little harder, try riskier moves, ignore all warnings, and run headlong into unknown danger. He can hear the whispered pleas to just make that jump, move a little faster, hold out just a little longer.

And he does.

He tries his hardest to do better than his best, especially for the ones who show up at his game cabinet, faces twisted in hurt or sorrow or desperation.

Like the littlest boy who comes with his friends and only ever plays Kaito's game when he's left alone and there's no one to see how desperately he tries to defeat Kaito's Black Organization.

Kaito does his best to be at his game cabinet every time the little boy shows up, but sometimes, sometimes you're drafted for the XPO and some Gerudo Demon has to open his big trap and not expect Kaito to put his fist through it.

-X-

Kaito drapes an arm over Falco, grinning at everyone they pass.

So far, everyone cheers and waves as they make their way though the Terminal. Kaito acknowledges the applause, waving his free arm and leaning on Falco. The pilot takes his weight, and Kaito's sure he's rolled his eyes, too.

"You're ridiculous," Falso says, shifting Kaito's arm more over his shoulder. "How did your team win?"

"Don't be bitter," Kaito says, "I've got talent and secrets and more experience than most of the flashy upstarts coming though here, so of course my team won."

"You're an old man. Pretty sure we've all heard that before." Falco stops outside the portal to Kaito's game, his XPO team gathered around it.

"We have definitely heard that before," Meta Knight says, tipping up to meet Kaito's eyes. "One would think that being so old, you'd know better than to get focused on a singular opponent."

"I knew you'd have my back. Excellent work out there, Grand Champion," Kaito says, leaning down to clasp arms with the Star Warrior.

"Don't get so worked up over what he says about the humans. You can have favorites. No one says you can't," Pit interrupts.

"I know. I'm sorry." Kaito grins, sharp as glass. "I think he learned his lesson."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Lucina raises her fist, knocking her forearm with Kaito's. "That was an excellent fight, nonetheless."

"I do my best," Kaito says, turning to meet Falco's eyes. "Thanks for springing me, but I've got to get back before the arcade closes."

"Try not to be such a dick next time, okay?" Falco says, letting Kaito step away. He offers his goodbyes to the others, already turning off to their own terminals, eager to return to something familiar now that the XPO tournament is concluded.

-X-

Kaito blinks into awareness just as the Kichiemon trap closes on his fingers. It takes a bite out of his health, alerts the police that someone has inexpertly tripped the trap, and slots open the axe attack that he springs back from at the direction of the human on his controls.

"Damn it." He hears from somewhere above. It's muffled slightly, distorted through the screen that hovers omnipresent. "Damn it!"

Kaito follows the directions to avoiding the police as they wait for the trap to reset for another try. He just has to evade for thirty seconds before the police relax and he can make another attempt.

"What am I doing wrong?"

Kaito is crouched in wait behind a plant, and he finally recognizes the voice.

It's his human boy.

He peeks up at the hovering screen, the portal to the human world, and smiles slightly at the scowl on the boy's face.

He doesn't know the boy's name. He can vaguely guess his age.

He'd recognize him from anywhere, though. Cowlicked hair, big glasses, perpetual frown, and the cutest blue eyes Kaito has ever seen in his entire life. He looks a lot like The Detective Boy's game sprite that Kaito can't help but have a soft spot for him.

He moves when their time's up, stalking through the shadows back to the Kichiemon Trap Vault.

He lets the boy direct his actions through the beginning of the trap and then carefully picks a hole into the code and allows a hint to pop up before they can move onto the second part of the trap. He waits for the boy to reason it out, because even though it's a hint, it's not a how to guide.

He's not under a time crunch for this part, so the kid has plenty of time.

When he gets it, when he figures it out, there's nothing but confidence directing Kaito through the next stages of the Kichiemon Trap.

The end isn't brought about by any misdoing, but by the final call for the night.

He hears the loudspeaker through the hovering screen, and he's disappointed that they can't spend more time together.

They let the timer run out on the phase they're in, and Kaito can tell that his pursuers are slowly checking out behind him. They have better things to do than sit through closing time, so Kaito ignores Snake as he calls out for Kaito to throw in the towel.

Hands hesitate on his controls.

"I've- I've never made it this far before. So thanks, I think." Kaito turns under the boy's directions, tipping his own face up to see the boy's face. He looks sad. "We'll do better next time."

Kaito waits until that timer runs to zero and then picks out another hole in the code. He feels himself glitch, and he keeps himself calm.

The boy inhales sharply as Kaito pops up a dialog box "Of course we will!" and he doffs his hat in a sweeping bow.

The gamers are quickly reminded to leave in five minutes over the loudspeaker.

"Wow." The boy smiles blindingly.

Kaito pulls himself out of his sprite, joining the queue at the train leading back to the Terminal.

"Pretty ballsy there at the end," Snake says, draping an arm over Kaito's shoulders. "Never know when the humans will catch on, but that stuff'll only make it easier."

"I like the kid," Kaito defends, "And it's a kid. Who'll believe him out there?"

"Good point," Snake says, "Guess it doesn't matter in the end. Not like the XPO win. Good job representing the Old Guard, Kid."

"Can't let a bunch of upstart pixels get the better of us," Kaito agrees, ducking Snake's arm when the train arrives.

"Hell yeah!" Snake roars, the various Organization members around them perking up and echoing him.

The merrymaking continues well into the Terminal, and several of the Org have linked arms and started singing their theme song. Kaito's too old to be embarrassed, but he's got better places to be than at the beck and call of his villians, even if they're throwing a party in his name.

He skirts around the various crowds clustering around the Terminal. The portal he's looking for is pretty far from his, closer to the new games than the old.

And there's his Detective Boy, relaxing with his own friends at one of the several Waystations in the Terminal. They turn at his approach, and his detective is already striding towards him by the time Kaito clears the last group in his way.

"Kaito!" He raises an arm, pointing somewhere behind him, and Kaito doesn't have time to move before an arm comes down on his shoulders.

"And where do you think you're going, huh?"

And there's his detective's terrifying girlfriend.

"Ran!"

"Uh. Hello, Miss Mouri-chan." Kaito tries to squirm away, but there's no way to escape.

The only reason he'd gotten away from her in the XPO was because he'd kept his distance. Anywhere in arm's reach is way too close to Mouri Ran.

"Don't hello me, Kid. After that nonsense with Ganondorf during the XPO, you'll expect me to just turn my back and let you make off with Shinichi?"

"Well, I'm hoping you'll let me make out with him, in all honesty." Kaito winces at the tightening of her grip.

"Ran! Let him go," Shinichi says as he finally get to them. "You can't strangle him until after I do."

"Awww! Shinichi! My hero!" He tries to swoon to get out from Ran's arm, but she lets him drape himself down, adjusting her grip until he's nearly in a bridal carry in her arms.

She drops him to the ground with a laugh, stepping over him and hugging Shinichi.

"Just make sure you're back for opening shift, okay? The programmed directions leave a lot to be desired and I'd like to beat the game at least once tomorrow."

She leaves with laughter in her wake, and they both watch her go.

Kaito rolls to prop himself up on his forearms. Shinichi drops into a sitting position in front of him.

"So. I heard you were in the XPO."

"I was. My team won." He smiles up at Shinichi. "So you can offer my victory kiss any time."

Shinichi scoffs, but he's kinda smiling too, so he can't really be annoyed.

"And I heard there was a fight over that human kid. The one who looks like me."

"Exactly. He looks like you." Kaito drops his eyes to the ground, suddenly feeling a little exposed for all that he's the brash older one of the two. "You can't blame me for a small weakness."

"You're ridiculous," Shinichi says.

"Yeah," Kaito agrees.

"You're going to get yourself into trouble with the humans," Shinichi says.

"Yeah," Kaito agrees.

"You don't care at all," Shinichi says.

"Yeah," Kaito agrees.

Shinichi gets to his feet and grabs Kaito's hands when he reaches for him. He pulls Kaito up effortlessly. It's a secret thrill that's probably not so secret, but Kaito adores how strong Shinichi really is and doesn't seem to realize it.

"Want to go find a billboard screen?"

Kaito's grin is probably too big and sappy in response, but he hauls Shinichi to the wi-fi portal as fast as he can.

Shinichi lets himself be towed, through the wi-fi portal, through the signals and airwaves of the human world, and trusts Kaito to pick them out the best view in the city.

Kaito's practically vibrating with the trust that Shinichi gives him in this, since they're tangling their codes together to travel. It's incredibly intimate to travel with someone when you're stripped down to your basic components.

He finds his favorite screen, the absolute biggest screen in the intersection and sees Hachiko waiting directly across from them.

He directs them to one of the edges, settling just high enough that they can watch the mass of people without issue.

Shinichi sighs and tucks himself closer to Kaito.

"They're pretty incredible, huh?"

"I think so, too," Shinichi says, "Is he really like me?"

"Your eyes." Kaito turns to hold Shinichi's chin, brushes a thumb over his cheek, and stares at the bluest eyes he can imagine. They're programmed to be the bluest blue. No matter the media they exist in, they always change to the bluest color possible. "I think the boy's dad made your game."

"Really?" Shinichi lets Kaito turn his chin, and only pulls back when the light changes below and thousands of people begin to stream across the road below them.

"Yeah. You're only about thirteen right? I'd never seen the kid before a few years ago. It's perfectly possible. I don't know why he's so interested in my game. I'm a thief. My game's pretty simple. Defeat the traps, steal from vaults, beat the bad guys."

"I like your game," Shinichi confesses, "And you know that."

"Part of why I like you so much." Kaito leans into Shinichi, and they don't know anything but the quiet electric hum from such intimate contact for a while. "But I really like your game a lot, too. I like that you've got a clear goal. You solve a series of murders and it's never yet been the same way twice."

"It'd get dull doing the same thing. But I guess that's why you latch onto your fans. They're the new element in your games. That's why you keep coming back to the arcade when you could be out here jumping from human to human."

"Well, it's not the only reason," Kaito whispers, brushing Shinichi's hand with soft, tentative fingers.

Shinichi turns his palm over and slots their fingers together.